Two dozen injured when stage collapses at Catholic high school

March 9, 2014

Updated March 10, 2014 3:22 p.m.

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A Rosary High School student is comforted after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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An Anaheim Fire & Rescue firefighter walks out an injured Rosary High School student after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Parents comfort their daughter, a student at Rosary High School, after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Rosary High School students comfort each other after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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A parent walks with his daughter, a student from Rosary High School, as she is transported to the hospital after a stage collapse during Rosary's Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, ASSOCIATED PRESS

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A parent from Rosary High School talks on the phone after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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An EMT rushes with equipment to Servite High School's auditorium after a stage collapse during Rosary High School's Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night sent around thirty students to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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A Rosary High School student is comforted after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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A Rosary High School student is transported to the hospital after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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A Rosary High School student is transported to the hospital after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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A stage collapse during Rosary High School's Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night sent around thirty students to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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A stage collapse during Rosary High School's Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night sent around thirty students to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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Around 25 ambulance were called to Servite High School in Anaheim after a stage collapse during Rosary High School's Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night sent around thirty students to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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More than 150 attended a prayer service Sunday at Rosary High in Fullerton for those injured in Saturday night's Servite High stage collapse. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Family and friends gather outside of Servite High School's auditorium after a stage collapse during Rosary High School's Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night sent around thirty students to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

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An Anaheim Police officer puts up crime scene tape after a stage collapse during Rosary High School's Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night sent around thirty students to the hospital. KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

More than 20 students were injured when the stage at Se RACHEL MARCOTTE VIA TWITTER

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Front of stage at Servite High School after Saturday night's collapse. ANAHEIM POLICE DEPARTMENT

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Rosary High freshmen Emma Garsha, 14, of Tustin, left, and Sabrina Lee, 14, of Huntington Beach describes the scene Saturday night when the Servite High stage collapsed. Lee was unharmed, but in the middle of the stage during Rosary's annual Red and Gold rally. At least 25 students were injured in the collapse Saturday night at Rosary's sister school, the all-boys Servite in Anaheim. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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More than 150 leave Rosary High in Fullerton after a prayer service. At least 25 injured students were transported to hospitals with moderate injuries that included broken bones, scrapes and bruises after the Servite High stage collapsed Sat. night, police said. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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An official statement from Servite High's director of communications was posted outside a locked gate at the Anaheim school. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Rosary High freshmen Emma Garsha, 14, of Tustin, left, describes watching the Servite High stage collapse as Sabrina Lee, 14, of Huntington Beach listens. Lee was in the middle of the stage, but was unharmed when the stage collapsed during Rosary's annual Red and Gold rally. At least 25 students were injured Saturday night at the all-boys Catholic School, Servite,in Anaheim. The two were leaving Fullerton's Rosary High after a prayer service for those involved in the collapse. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Some embraced, while others walked arm in arm after a prayer service for those involved in the Servite High stage collapse Saturday night at Rosary High. The wooden stage gave way about 10 p.m. as about 250 girls from Rosary High School were performing at the boy's high school at 1952 W. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim, according to police. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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More than 150 people attend a prayer service at Rosary High for those injured after a stage collapsed during a performance at Servite High School. At least 25 injured students were transported to hospitals with moderate injuries that included broken bones, scrapes and bruises after the Servite High stage collapsed Saturday night, police said. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

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Attendees leave a prayer session at Rosary High for those injured when a stage collapsed at Servite High during a Saturday night performance. Excessive weight is being investigated as a factor for the collapse by authorities. About 250 Rosary High students were on stage at the time. CINDY YAMANAKA, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

A Rosary High School student is comforted after a stage collapse during their Red and Gold Rally at Servite High School in Anaheim around 11:00 p.m. Saturday night. Around thirty students were transported to the hospital.KEVIN WARN, CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

ANAHEIM – More than 100 parents, students and faculty at Rosary High School came together Sunday to support the 24 students who were injured the night before when the stage at Servite High School collapsed during an annual rally.

“We’re sisters at Rosary,” said Sabrina Lee, 14, a freshman who was performing when the wooden stage collapsed and who attended the prayer service. “We’re just sticking together.”

Meanwhile, the Anaheim fire marshal and building inspectors were on scene Sunday investigating what caused the collapse, said Lt. Tim Schmidt of the Anaheim Police Department.

“It looks like, on its face, that too much weight was on the stage than what it was originally built for,” Schmidt said Sunday night.

At about 10 p.m. Saturday, the stage at Servite High School collapsed as 250 students were performing in Rosary’s annual Red and Gold rally, Schmidt said. An additional 200 to 250 were in the audience at the time, he said.

Twenty-four students were taken to the hospital with moderate injuries that included broken bones, scrapes and bruises. By Sunday afternoon, all of them had been released from the hospital, Schmidt said.

Servite High School is an all-boys Catholic school that opened in 1958. Rosary High School in Fullerton is an all-girls Catholic High School founded in 1965.

The stage at Servite is 50 feet wide and 25 feet deep, according to the school’s website. The auditorium was built in the 1980s, Schmidt said. In 1996, an extension was added. The extension is the part that collapsed, he said.

The high school's platform stage was previously permitted for use, Schmidt said. But now investigators will be rechecking that permit to see if it included a weight restriction or a limit as to the number of people who could safely be on the stage at one time.

Schmidt said he expected the investigation, which is being led by the Anaheim Fire Department, to take up to two weeks. He added that Servite has been cooperative in the investigation.

“They want to find out what happened as much as we do,” Schmidt said.

Saturday evening’s show was the third performance of the Red and Gold rally, which included a matinee and evening performance Friday. The performers also conducted a dress rehearsal Friday morning.

“Thank you for your prayers and support during this time,” Rosary Principal Judy Lutrell said in a statement on the school’s website Saturday. “We ask that you continue to pray for our students. We thank you all, the Servite community, and the responders for their calm assistance this evening.”

The Red and Gold rally has been a tradition since 1971, according to the Rosary’s website. The musical theater production is based on an assigned theme, with the entire student body divided into two teams, red and gold, the school’s colors. Students are allowed six weeks to prepare for the event.

On Sunday afternoon, a private prayer service was held at Rosary to support the injured students. Parents and students alike attended, exchanging flowers and hugs. They were still trying to process what happened.

Lee, the Rosary High School freshman and Huntington Beach resident, said people in the audience tried to help, but were just as stunned as the performers.

“I just saw girls fall and ran off stage,” Lee said.

Another Rosary High School freshman Emma Garsha, 14, from Tustin, was one of those audience members.

“There were a lot of different reactions,” she said. “There were people crying and there were people in shock and scared.”

In a statement, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange said it was “an unfortunate accident.” The diocese said an internal investigation was underway.

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